Testing Continues In Hyères

Women's High Performance Dinghy Evaluation Event

The Women's High Performance Dinghy Evaluation Event continues in Hyères, France, with day three of testing in bright sunshine and 6-8 knots. You can now view our photo gallery of the action so far.

Some of the world's top women sailors are putting the the 29er, 29erXX, RS800, Cherub Daemon, Carbonology GT60 and International 14 to test in Hyères, in the Evaluation Event being held in advance of the decision on the ten events for the 2012 Olympic Games.

On Wednesday the day began with a windward-leeward course set up to give the sailors and observers an opportunity to compare the boats directly against one-another.

To view a small photo gallery of the boats in action in Hyères CLICK HERE.

The Boats

The six boats for the trials in Hyères are:

29er - Image
A skiff one-design, designed by Julian BETHWAITE, launched in 1998

29erXX - Image
A skiff one-design, designed by Julian BETHWAITE which features a carbon mast and double spreaders on the existing 29er hull

Cherub Daemon - Image
A skiff one-design, designed by Simon ROBERTS and Richard TAYLOR to fall within the 2005 UK Cherub Class Rules

Carbonology GT60 - Image
A project by David CHISHOLM using a design by Paul BIEKER, with the Master plug currently in production

International 14 - Image
Established 75 years ago, the twin trapeze skiff is a well known development class

RS800 - Image
A skiff one-design designed by Phil MORRISON, with some modifications to the existing RS800 deck mould

About The Women's High Performance Dinghy Evaluation Event

In advance of the decision on the ten events for the 2012 Olympic Games, which will be made at the 2007 ISAF Annual Conference this November, the Women's High Performance Dinghy Evaluation Event will look at whether there are suitable boats for a High Performance Dinghy event for a crew of two women.

The fundamental criteria set out by ISAF for the event included:

The boat must be a monohull

The dinghy must be able to sail faster off the wind than the wind

The dinghy is for a crew of two women (average combined weight 120-140 kgs)

Targeting a price of 14,500 Euros ready to sail

A report on the Evaluation Event will be completed by the ISAF Mid-Year Meeting, to be held in Paris, France from 4-6 May.

The Evaluation Event is part of ISAF's commitment to actively develop sailing at the highest level and keep pace with all the latest developments within the sport. Previous Evaluation Events have led to the adoption of the RS:X board as the new windsurfer for the 2008 Olympic Sailing Competition and the 49er as the first twin trapeze skiff with asymmetric spinnaker in the Olympic Games in Sydney 2000.

Details of the criteria and Evaluation Panel can be found on the ISAF Technical microsite - www.sailing.org/technical - or by CLICKING HERE.